RoninBoxers

Hi Peter! I had an Albino snakeskin male about 10 years ago. I never bred him though as he was small and unimpressive. Also the red eyes are quite something to get used to! I would like to bring in an albino strain but just want to be sure I'd be able to breed them first. I find it hard to imagine they'd really be THAT hard. Have you seen any nice yellows in NZ? Or perhaps sunset? I think the sunset is a neat idea but a lot of the photos I've seen of them aren't too exciting. Thanks! :-) Helene BTW as soon as I make some Albino babies you'd be welcome to have some. If we spread them around it might make for a little diversity and a backup strain :-)

Greetings Peter! Thanks so much for your offer to help some of us with this topic! :-) I have done a lot of reading online, and some of the strains that really appeal to me are albino. I see over and over that albinos are hard to breed but no one is very specific about why. Is it low fertility? High deformity rate? Or do they mean its difficult to maintain quality stock? Are they difficult compared to other guppies, or generally difficult? Thanks!!! Helene

I'm definitly going for most of the tanks being bare for easy maintenance. It doesn't seem to bother outgoing fish like guppies at all. I'm thinking about painting the (outside) bottom of the tank dark, I believe this helps the fish colour up?? & maybe a contrasting colour behind. I think UV sterilising might just be getting a bit much for me at this point :-)

Hi All! Some super points!! I have been doing heaps of reading on the net, but for some reason I've found my searches on guppies a bit hit and miss at times. Glad to know lighting isn't too important, thats one less thing I wont have to do stakc of reading on! I'm not sure if this is a stupid question or not. But with box filtration units (for example) is there and risk of babies getting sucked in? Also when you say a central unit, is that one big one you hook everything up to? What model is it and is it very noisy? The "10 tips" page is excellent, a lot I'd read but some were new and important. Its left me considering perhaps smaller tanks for babies?? Does anyone here keep their livebearers in a planted tank? I've resigned myself to mostly nude tanks but have to have at least one planted! What about gravel vacuums?? Are they practical? What type is the way to go? (I've always just siphoned with a hose!) Thanks for all the help!! Helene

Hi All!! I was hoping for some suggestions on my new project, its been a long time since I've had fish and I'm not up to date on filters, lights etc available now. I'm going to have 6 tanks of equal size around 2 foot long each. One or possibly two tanks will have gravel and be planted for show. (Somewhere for all the boys to go :-) The question is this, what sort of filtration/airation/lighting should I be looking at?? There is some new lighting for sale on trademe at very good prices... What brands do I consider? What filtration/airation would the babies prefer? Thanks! Helene

Thanks so much for that suggestion Alan!!! I was struggling with an idea of how to "put them to sleep" and secondly how gross it would be to cut them up... So freeze n grate is cool!!!!!!! Oddly, hacking up tubifex doesn't worry me, but theres something so big and slimy about earth worms.

Firstly, I'm still interested and following this thread :-) If you want to do it right from the begining you definitely need a constitution. Check out what other clubs have, and also guidelines for an "incoporated society" can be helpful, though I dont recommend adding the "inc" its a lot of work!! At a bare minimum you need a president, treasurer, secretary. (Though one person could be sec/tresurer) probably a good idea to have a couple other comittee members too. Does the FNZAS have special requirements for member societies?

This all sounds very cool. Would "Livebearers NZ" be more inclusive than Poecilia? (but whats in a name :-) ) I'd be happy to pay a $5-10 membership. Personally I have a specific interest in livebearers. Not just as a starting point, I think they are great because I will be able to focus more on the development of a strain rather than struggle with the actual breeding. I think an online base for a club like this is excellent, afterall isn't everyone spread round the country? Meetings would be a bit of a drag. This part of the forum would be the perfect place for the club since its already getting regular users. I would also consider donating webspace if the clubs site doest become toooo big.

I'd be in on the guppy club! On the newsletter front, we could probably set up a website and just add articles as people felt like writing them. I've done tonnes of reading online but what I really miss is NZ specific information. I'd be willing to help setup the website if need be. Also a forum would be easy to have for the club, but perhaps it would be more useful to apply to have an "NZGuppies" area on this forum. As far as standards go, are there international governing bodies that set standards? (so you can borrow/adapt them :-) Is there a NZ Livebearer club? Would that get a larger membership, distribute responsibility and increase resorces? I'm a bit new to the fish club scene but seems to me setting up clubs must be the same the world over. So hope I can help a bit. Regards, Helene

So there are no hobbyists or experienced people that can offer quarentine services? I would say someone should look into it, but no doubt it would cost 4 figures plus. I know what you mean about running multiple tanks :-) I'll probably start with 3 and work my way up. I've never been to the fish nationals before, I'm hoping it will give me a good idea of some of the different strains that are out there. Maybe I'll meet the right people and get some cool fish. I just always like to have a plan B. I think I'd be too scared to import something like discus!!!! It would be awful if something happened to them. Guppies might be a tad hardier than that... If I could buy heaps of the strain I like, then maybe anough would survive quarentine to be a good start. I like the idea of them being such easy breeders. Means I can focus on selection and rather than the minutia of reproduction. Ta! Helene www.roninboxers.com

Greetings! I've been out of fish for quite a while and I'm looking for the right ones to get started with. I've been breeding dogs for quite a few years and its spurred my interest in genetics and breeding programs. The kind of very close line breeding one can do with fish in such a short time is very appealing. Though it may not sound terribly sophisticated, I'm hoping to get into some solid coloured guppies. (Gold/red, yellows, & half black reds though I may get them here) I guess I'm still very much in a dog breeding mindset, I know that importing something as close to what I want as possible would be a huge short cut and well worth the effort... That is unless I get lucky on the right fish here! I don't really know any other breeders and have been to pet shops all over the place and frankly a lot of their fish are less than stellar. Some are ok but the females are probably impregnated by every male in the tank. Hope this isn't too boring of me! I just love guppies. Though some killifish may arrive shortly after :-) Regards, Helene

Thanks for that! I've already checked out the species list on Maf, I don't think I'll be needing anything thats banned :-) What a pain about going to the LFS... I'd hoped there'd be a "fresher" way to get them. Theorhetically importing through a place that has quarentine accreditation should be no problem it happens with other livestock all the time. I guess its just a matter of finding someone who could be bothered :-( Either way my fish search has been very heartening and it looks like there are some nice lines coming on. I'll be going to the nationals and will hopefully bring a few bags home wohooo! Thanks for your reply, Helene

Greetings! I'd like to know a bit about importing fish from overseas. Does anyone know of a quarentine facility I can have them sent to, or someone I could work with to get the right fish? I'm considering this if I have no luck finding the type and stength of fish I want. Maybe this is a really strange question, but I breed dogs and have imported some of them... :oops: Thanks! Helene